'The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else.'

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Harm's way, worth it?

You’re standing in the custody suite late on in the evening, keeping an eye on a young lad who was arrested by a colleague for Criminal Damage to a window. This young lad is a nice guy, no trouble and willing to do what he is told, he likes the fact that you are young. He talks about Girl Bands and how he would love to do things with Dannii Minogue and her sister Kylie, lovely, you can agree with him on that one.

Suddenly the ear piece perks up, alot of shouting and commotion comes over the radio, you know what it is, the orange emergency button has been pressed, another Officer is in grave danger. Police Officers shout up from everywhere, even one from another division says they are on their way to assist. As the situation slows down, unit’s going to assist are informed that they are not needed, that the situation is under control. Two officers have been assaulted; a man is under arrest and is being brought down to the custody suite, the custody suite where you are.

Ten minutes later he arrives, he’s red in the face, he’s crying and his breaths are heavy. Your partner for the shift tells you to stand next to this guy, while the Officers who brought him in talk with the Custody staff. It’s real, this is no longer a game, this guy could seriously hurt you if he put his mind to it, he’s already injured two officers, this plays on your mind as you watch him. He starts to tense up, he’s huffing and puffing, clenching his fists and staring you in the face.

You know that if he jumps you, you won’t stand a chance, one on one, his handcuffs as his weapons, with his rage, he’d paint the walls with you. You won’t have time to reach your ASP, if you deployed your CS everyone would be affected and he could run amuck. The only thing you could do would be to fight with him, until Officers came to assist. You tell him to calm down; to say you’re apprehensive is an understatement, you try and stop it from showing, these guys can smell fear, and they can use it to their advantage. In a flash it is all over, he’s placed into a cell and your partner tells you that you did a good job, for a first timer.

At the end of your shift you go home, thinking about how you have only done this once. Regular Officers do it on a daily basis; what you have done today is nothing when compared to what they do. The guy will be let out in the morning, the woman he assaulted most likely won’t want to take it any further, and it’ll just be another NFA.

You're right it's not worth it - let's just arrest nice people who don't fight with us. People who beat up women are just too much of a handful. If someone won't come quietly, don't bother.

Or... it's worth it just to put the scumbag in a cell for a night and give the woman a few hours respite, or a chance to think about what she wants to do. If he's a git who smacks police officers, he needs to come in as often as possible until he gets put inside.